David Lidington

The Right Honourable
David Lidington
CBE MP
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Assumed office
8 January 2018
Prime Minister Theresa May
Preceded by Patrick McLoughlin
Minister for the Cabinet Office
Assumed office
8 January 2018
Prime Minister Theresa May
Preceded by Damian Green (2017)
Secretary of State for Justice
Lord Chancellor
In office
11 June 2017 – 8 January 2018
Prime Minister Theresa May
Preceded by Elizabeth Truss
Succeeded by David Gauke
Leader of the House of Commons
Lord President of the Council
In office
14 July 2016 – 11 June 2017
Prime Minister Theresa May
Preceded by Chris Grayling
Succeeded by Andrea Leadsom
Minister of State for Europe
In office
12 May 2010 – 14 July 2016
Prime Minister David Cameron
Preceded by Chris Bryant
Succeeded by Alan Duncan (Europe and the Americas)
Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
In office
11 November 2003 – 2 July 2007
Leader Michael Howard
David Cameron
Preceded by Quentin Davies
Succeeded by Owen Paterson
Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
In office
23 July 2002 – 11 November 2003
Leader Iain Duncan Smith
Preceded by Peter Ainsworth
Succeeded by Caroline Spelman (Environment)
Member of Parliament
for Aylesbury
Assumed office
9 April 1992
Preceded by Timothy Raison
Majority 14,696 (25.0%)
Personal details
Born David Roy Lidington
(1956-06-30) 30 June 1956
Lambeth, London, England
Political party Conservative
Spouse(s)
Helen Parry (m. 1989)
Children 4
Alma mater Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge
Website Official website

David Roy Lidington CBE (born 30 June 1956) is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Aylesbury since 1992. On 8 January 2018, he assumed the roles of Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster [1].

From 2010 to 2016, he was Minister of State for Europe, Leader of the House of Commons, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice.[2]

Early life and career

Born in Lambeth,[3] Lidington was educated at Merchant Taylors' Prep School then Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, Elstree, Hertfordshire, followed by Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge,[4] where he took a degree in history and a PhD in 1988 entitled "The enforcement of the penal statutes at the court of the Exchequer c.1558-c.1576"[5] on Elizabethan history. While at Cambridge, he was chairman of Cambridge University Conservative Association and Deputy President of the Cambridge University Students' Union.[6] He was the Captain of the Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge team that won the 1979 series of University Challenge. The team also won the 2002 University Challenge – Reunited "champion of champions" series for the show's 40th anniversary.[7]

Lidington's early employment included posts with BP and the Rio Tinto Group before being appointed in 1987 as special adviser to the then Home Secretary Douglas Hurd. He moved to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1989 when Douglas Hurd was appointed Foreign Secretary.[4]

Lidington and his wife Helen have four sons.[4] He was raised as a Congregationalist but is now an Anglican.[8]

In the 1987 general election, Lidington stood unsuccessfully in the Vauxhall constituency.

Parliamentary career

From 1992 to 2010

Lidington was selected as the Conservative candidate for the safe seat of Aylesbury in December 1990. He became the constituency's member of parliament at the 1992 general election.[9]

At Westminster, Lidington previously participated in the Education Select Committee and Conservative Backbench Home Affairs Committee. In 1994, he successfully promoted a Private Members Bill which became the Chiropractors Act 1994.

Lidington first joined the Conservative front bench team in August 1994, when he became Parliamentary Private Secretary to Home Secretary Michael Howard. In June 1997, with the Conservatives in opposition, he became Parliamentary Private Secretary to Leader of the Opposition William Hague. Two years later, in June 1999, he was promoted to become Shadow Home Affairs Minister (deputy to Ann Widdecombe). In September 2001, Lidington was promoted to become Shadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury.[10]

Lidington became a member of the Shadow Cabinet in May 2002, replacing Ann Winterton as Shadow Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (later Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) after she resigned. When Michael Howard was elected Conservative Party leader in November 2003, Lidington became Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, but was not included as a member of the Shadow Cabinet.[10]

In May 2005, Howard enlarged the Shadow Cabinet, granting Lidington the right to attend it again. He was one of the few Shadow Cabinet ministers left in his old post by David Cameron when the latter became leader in December 2005. But on 2 July 2007, Lidington was demoted to be a junior Foreign Affairs spokesman.[10]

Expenses (2009)

In May 2009, The Daily Telegraph revealed Lidington had claimed nearly £1,300 for his dry cleaning and had also claimed for toothpaste, shower gel, body spray and vitamin supplements on his second home allowance.[11] Lidington decided to repay the claims for the toiletries, saying: "I accept that many people would see them as over-generous."

Lidington was also criticised by local newspaper the Bucks Herald for claiming £115,891 in expenses in one year, almost double his salary.[12]

Since the 2010 general election

Following the 2010 general election, Lidington was appointed Minister for Europe.[10] In August 2016 following the resignation of David Cameron, Lidington was awarded a CBE in the 2016 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours for his services to the government as European minister.

In November 2013, Lidington was criticised in an editorial of the local newspaper the Bucks Herald after he abstained on votes on the HS2 rail project which is set to affect large areas of his constituency.[13]

On 25 November 2016, when he was serving as Leader of the House of Commons, Lidington deputised for Prime Minister Theresa May at PMQs[14] questioned first-hand by the shadow foreign secretary, Emily Thornberry who also deputised, as per custom, for Jeremy Corbyn on the day.

Under prime minister Theresa May, Lidington was appointed Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council. This was a position he held till 11 June 2017, when he was promoted to Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor.[15]

On 8 January 2018, during a Cabinet reshuffle, Lidington became the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office making him Prime Minister May’s de facto second-in-command.

References

  1. ↑ "May appoints David Lidington as cabinet office minister – May's office". Reuters. 8 January 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  2. ↑ "Her Majesty's Government". 13 May 2010. Archived from the original on 15 May 2010. Retrieved 13 November 2010.
  3. ↑ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 "The Rt Hon David Lidington MP – GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  5. ↑ Lidington, David Roy (1988). The Enforcement of the Penal Statutes at the Court of the Exchequer C.1558-c.1576. University of Cambridge.
  6. ↑ "A new home for Cambridge University Students' Union". University of Cambridge. 1 October 2007. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  7. ↑ "BBC – Press Office – University Challenge Reunited final". BBC. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  8. ↑ "Theresa May appoints Justice Secretary opposed to LGBT rights". The Independent. 12 June 2017. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  9. ↑ "Rt Hon David Lidington MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "Rt Hon David Lidington". Aylesbury Constituency Conservative Association. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  11. ↑ Gammell, Caroline (22 May 2009). "MPs' expenses: David Lidington is Mr Clean (but you pay for his soap)". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 25 May 2009. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
  12. ↑ "MPs Expenses: The price of democracy in Aylesbury Vale". The Bucks Herald. Archived from the original on 25 May 2009. Retrieved 9 April 2010.
  13. ↑ "Editor's comment: Time fast approaching for Mr Lidington to stand up and be counted over HS2". The Bucks Herald. Archived from the original on 9 November 2013. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
  14. ↑ correspondent, Peter Walker Political (25 November 2016). "Commons leader David Lidington to take on PMQs for the first time". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  15. ↑ "The Rt Hon David Lidington MP – GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Timothy Raison		 Member of Parliament
for Aylesbury
1992–present		 Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by
Peter Ainsworth		 Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
2002–2003		 Succeeded by
Caroline Spelman
as Shadow Secretary of State for Environment
Preceded by
Quentin Davies		 Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
2003–2007		 Succeeded by
Owen Paterson
Preceded by
Chris Bryant		 Minister of State for Europe
2010–2016		 Succeeded by
Alan Duncan
as Minister of State for Europe and the Americas
Preceded by
Chris Grayling		 Leader of the House of Commons
2016–2017		 Succeeded by
Andrea Leadsom
Lord President of the Council
2016–2017
Preceded by
Elizabeth Truss		 Secretary of State for Justice
2017–2018		 Succeeded by
David Gauke
Lord Chancellor
2017–2018
Preceded by
Sir Patrick McLoughlin		 Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
2018–present		 Incumbent
Preceded by
Damian Green		 Minister for the Cabinet Office
2018–present
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